Seized by Christ

They are experiencing Christianity as joy and hope, having thus become lovers of Christ.

Tag: salvation

  •  Why John 3:16 Still Matters

    (and How to Hear It Anew)

    Q4: “Why does John 3:16 matter so much—haven’t we heard it so often that it loses meaning?”

    Answer:

    John 3:16 may be the most familiar verse in all of Scripture, but that familiarity can dull its impact. When we pause to truly reflect on what it says, we uncover the entire Gospel in one line—a line that reveals who God is, what He does, and how we are called to respond.

    1. The Gospel in One Sentence

    • God’s Initiative:
       The verse doesn’t begin with our effort. It begins with God’s love. “God so loved the world…” means He made the first move. His love is not reactive—it’s freely given.
    • The Gift of His Son:
       Love isn’t just a feeling here—it’s action. God gave His only Son. That’s not poetry; it’s the painful reality of the Cross, where divine love bore real suffering to save us.
    • Belief That Brings Life:
       Believing in Jesus means entrusting ourselves to Him. The result? Not just avoidance of perishing, but the gift of eternal life—a transformed life starting now.

    This is why the early Church, the Reformers, and modern evangelists have all held this verse so dearly. It’s a compact version of the entire Christian message.

    2. The Danger of Over-Familiarity

    • We Hear Without Listening:
       We’ve seen John 3:16 on signs, T-shirts, and bumper stickers. It becomes background noise—true, but unengaging.
    • We Lose the Weight of It:
       The words are simple, but their meaning is not. This verse speaks of cosmic love and costly redemption—things we shouldn’t glide past.
    • It No Longer Moves Us:
       Familiarity can harden the heart. But the Word of God isn’t meant to be skimmed. It’s meant to pierce, comfort, and renew.

    3. Ways to Hear It Anew

    • Reimagine the Scene:
       Imagine being at the foot of the Cross or standing before the empty tomb. What does it mean for God to give His Son there?
    • Personalize It:
       Insert your name into the verse: “For God so loved [Your Name]…” That’s not self-centered—it’s the point. God’s love is deeply personal.
    • Use Lectio Divina:
       Slowly read John 3:16 four times, focusing each time on a different word or phrase—like “loved,” “gave,” or “eternal.” What stirs in your spirit?
    • Share It Anew:
       Try telling a friend why John 3:16 matters to you today. Giving voice to Scripture helps break the dullness of repetition.

    4. Biblical and Historical Echoes

    • Early Church:
       Used John 3:16 as a summary creed for new Christians, especially at baptisms.
    • Reformation Era:
       Luther and Calvin frequently returned to this verse to emphasize grace and faith, countering legalism and works-based salvation.
    • Modern Witness:
       This verse still appears in hymns, testimonies, and public evangelism—not because it’s cliché, but because it’s central.

    Discussion Prompt:
     When you hear John 3:16 today, which word or phrase jumps out at you? Why? How might focusing on just that one part reshape how you see God’s love for you?

    Composed and edited with assistance from ChatGPT

    Related Posts:

    “Deus Caritas Est” Summary Sections 1 thru 8

    What Does It Mean to Truly Meet Jesus?

    Why Does Christianity Feel Like It’s All About Rules?

    How Do I Know If I’ve Truly Encountered God’s Love?

  • Spe Salvi 47

    Section 47 is my favorite in the Encyclical Spe Salvi by Pope Benedict XVI. I never tire of reading and meditating on it. It is available in several locations including Vatican.va I have added sentence numbers, because the individual sentences are priceless. I refer to it a lot to describe the conversion process.

     

    47.1 Some recent theologians are of the opinion that the fire which both burns and saves is Christ himself, the Judge and Savior.

    47.2 The encounter with Him is the decisive act of judgment.

    47.3 Before His Gaze all falsehood melts away.

    47.4 This encounter with Him, as it burns us, transforms and frees us, allowing us to become truly ourselves.

    47.5 All that we build during our lives can prove to be mere straw, pure bluster, and it collapses.

    47.6 Yet in the pain of this encounter, when the impurity and sickness of our lives become evident to us, there lies salvation.

    47.7 His Gaze, the touch of his heart heals us through an undeniably painful transformation “as though fire”.

    47.8 But it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of His Love sears through us like aflame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God.

    47.9 In this way the inter-relation between justice and grace also becomes clear: the way we live our lives is not immaterial, but our defilement does not strain us forever if we have at least continued to reach out towards Christ, toward truth and towards love.

    47.10 Indeed, it has already been burned away through Christ’s Passion.

    47.11 At the moment of judgment we experience and we absorb the overwhelming power of His Love over all the evil in the world and in ourselves.

    47.12 The pain of love becomes our salvation and our joy.

    47.13 It is clear that we cannot calculate the “duration” of this transforming burning in terms of the chronological measurements of this world.

    47.14 The transforming “moment” of this encounter eludes earthly time–reckoning–it is the heart’s time, it is the time of “passage” to communion with God in the Body of Christ (39).

    47.15 The judgment of God is hope, both because it is justice and because it is grace.

    47.16 If it were merely grace, making all earthly things cease to matter, God would still owe us an answer to the question about justice–the crucial question that we ask of history and of God.

    47.17 If it were merely justice, in the end, it could bring only fear to us all.

    47.18 The incarnation of God in Christ has so closely linked the two together–judgment and grace– that justice is firmly established: we all work out our salvation “with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12)

    47.19 Nevertheless grace allows us all to hope, and to go trustfully to meet the Judge whom we know as our “advocate”, or parakletos (cf. 1 Jn 2:1)

    POPE BENEDICT; SPE SALVI; NOVEMBER 30 2007

    Plus, I would like to encourage comments on the content

     

    Regards

    Tom Neugebauer

    Seized by Christ